If I could hold, hold out for now
With these icecaps melting down
With the transistor sound
And my Chevrolet terraplane
Going around around around
Come on little gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
Your brains are bored like a refugee
From a houses that's burning
And the heat wave's calling your name
She's got a cactus crown
With a dot dot dot on her brow
And she speaks inside a cloud
With her countenance turning around
It hit me like a gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
And I'm pulling out thorns
Smokestack lightning out my window
I want to know what I've lost today
Come on little gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
Your body's bored like a refugee
From a house that's burning
And the backwater's calling your name
With these icecaps melting down
With the transistor sound
And my Chevrolet terraplane
Going around around around
Standing in a hurricane
Your brains are bored like a refugee
From a houses that's burning
And the heat wave's calling your name
With a dot dot dot on her brow
And she speaks inside a cloud
With her countenance turning around
Standing in a hurricane
And I'm pulling out thorns
Smokestack lightning out my window
I want to know what I've lost today
Standing in a hurricane
Your body's bored like a refugee
From a house that's burning
And the backwater's calling your name
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
This song is about Mother Nature kicking humanity's @$$.
Out of control storms, melting ice caps, wildfires, heat waves -- altogether an environmental Armageddon.
The woman with the cactus crown could be a version of Mother Nature. The dot on the brow could indicate a Hindu deity, likely Shiva, the Destroyer/Benefactor.
Gamma rays are the most dangerous form of radiation emitted by a nuclear explosion because of the difficulty in shielding them. This is because gamma rays have the shortest wavelength of all waves in the electromagnetic spectrum, and therefore have the most ability to penetrate through any gap, even a subatomic one, in what might otherwise be an effective shield.
To be hit by a gamma ray is a death sentence. Fitting since the arcing theme of the album is Death.
BTW, a terraplane is a 1930s automobile.
I agree with SadxuHuang, but I also see another meaning.
I think Gamma Ray is a woman and he's wanting her to be what she is capable of. Kicking ass and taking what she really wants. Instead something is holding her back for whatever reason and she is choosing to martyr herself instead.
Dear Beck: I love you.
***Correction, "Smokestack Lightning" is a SONG by Blues/ Soul singer Howlin' Wolf. I'm dyslexic...
I think he's comparing what it felt like to break up with a girl to climate change. Anyway.. great song!
and your brains are bored like a refugee... yes.
Absolutely my summer song!!
This song kicks ass! It reminds me of summer...I dont know what its supposed to be about tho
I agree with supernuke, I think the cactus crown could be a crown of thorns, which is what gave her the dot dot dot on her brow, a bit later he says he's pulling out thorns, maybe how humanity is trying to save earth now, after we messed it up a lot
I think he's wanting Nature to do what it's capable of, wiping out everything.